Hocus Pocus Guitar Lesson

As always when learning a new song we need to know the key. We're in A minor here, and we'll be using a variety of ideas based around that key. We'll use some pentatonic ideas, some jazz ideas and some good old power chord ideas too.

Main riff

The main riff is a call and response, starting with a pentatonic idea followed by a really catchy chord run. The chord run isn't the same every time though, the first time around we use jazz chords, and the second time around we use power chords. Both sound great and are definitely worth learning.

Hammer on riff

The first part, aka the 'call' is an A minor riff idea using an A played on the low E string, the open A string, and a hammer on from the flat 7 back to the root on the D string. We're hitting the E A and D strings at the same time, then hammering on the D string to get that root note. This leaves us with 3 A notes for a huge sound! You can leave out the A note on the E string if you prefer though. Here are those notes on the fretboard for you:

The rhythm of this part is very important too. We're using a combination of downstrokes, palm mutes, and a hammer on to really get this feel. The palm muted notes are just the open A string, while the downstrokes are the A and D (or E A and D) strings. Jed takes you through this in the video so watch and listen carefully!

Jazz chord hook

After that pure rock idea we switch to a pretty jazzy sounding chord run. The chords are Em7 Fmaj7 Cmaj7 Bbmaj7 E7#9 (aka the Hendrix Chord!). A quick bit of analysis shows us that most of these chords come straight from the harmonised A minor scale, with the exception of the Bbmaj7 and the E7#9. Since these chords have very specific voicings you can just learn the shapes, and consider the 'outside' notes as extra tension that gets resolved when we go back into key. For the more theory curious people, the Bb major 7 chord only contains one note that's not in the key - Bb - and as it's a minor 2nd away from the root it has a very strong pull in that direction. We could consider that as borrowed from the key of D minor (which only differs from A minor by one note). The Hendrix chord functions nicely as a dominant chord pulling back to A too! Here are the specific chord shapes to play:

Powerchord hook

We then return to the hammer on riff into the first two jazz chords - Em7 and Fmaj7. This is all exactly the same as the first time around, and after that we switch to power chords, following the same rhythm. This gives us a very similar feel, with a slightly rockier edge. You could absolutely be forgiven for not being 100% sure anything has changed on a first listen! The power chords are D5 B5 E5. Notice we're playing a B5 instead of the Bb here to stay fully in key. Here are those three extra shapes:

Climbing chords

Just before we get to the yodelling (which sadly Jed doesn't cover in this lesson - please get in touch if you would like him to attempt this in a future video) we have a power chord climbing section. Power chords and 5 chords are essentially the same thing (or exactly the same thing depending on who you ask). They are built with the root note and the 5th stacked on top. Jed refers to power chords as root plus 5th, and 5 chords as root plus 5th plus the root an octave up.

The chords we're playing are A5 C5 D5, then D5 F5 G5 ending with the E7#9 (aka Hendrix chord). All the power chord roots are on the A string - they are to help you out.

Lead guitar

There are several guitar solos in this song, always played over the main riff. There are many options for playing lead over this. As is almost always the case, the pentatonic scale is a great place to start. In this tune, since we're in the key of A minor, we can use A minor pentatonic:

If you want to choose from a bigger pool of notes you could go to seven note scales. Generally minor sounding scales will work best here, so A Aeolian and Dorian scales would be good options, as would A Phrygian which would nicely highlight the Bb in the jazz chords section! You could also arpeggiate the chords in that section to get yet another flavour! Finally, Jed also gives us a scale that can work nicely over the Hendrix chord. It's called the altered scale. Here's the shape Jed demonstrates in the video:

We really hope you've enjoyed this quick lesson. It may take a while to get your fingers around those jazz chords, but it's such a fun riff to play - it's definitely worth the effort! Thank you to Jed for the lesson and we'll see you next time!